ipl-logo

Ayn Rand's Argument Against Ethical Egoism

566 Words3 Pages

The philosopher Ayn Rand believed that an individual’s life is of the utmost importance, as is her well-being. She knew that altruistic ethics require individuals to sacrifice their own wellbeing and lives for the sake of others. With ethical egoism, and will value their own wellbeing above all others. So, she was for ethical egoism. Ayn Rand also had an argument against ethical egoism believing it is a mistake to treat the interest of some individuals as being less important than the interest of others. She thought on the fact that your interest is yours is not relevant to their importance relative to the importance of the interest of others. So, it is a mistake to treat your own interests as if they are more important than the interest of others. Personally, I agree with Ayn Rand’s view supporting ethical egoism. I’ve realized that I only do whatever I choose to do for my own self benefit and self-interest. Living life seems to be about survival and happiness which means having a good wellbeing. There is rarely ever a motivation for a person to do something for somebody else unless they get something out of it. For example, I could volunteer my time to help in a soup kitchen, but in return I most likely will want to be …show more content…

We think of ourselves all the time, and even if we think we are putting others first most of the time we really aren’t. People in general are selfish for their own well-being. People typically strive for their goals, dreams, and views of what success is. Nobody wants to miss out on opportunity to get what they want in life, so the big question is “Why possibly sacrifice your opportunity for the sake of another person?” You only live one life so your best to go ahead and take your shot at opportunity. The general mindset of most people is why focus on other’s interest when I already have mine to focus on in this

Show More
Related

Compare And Contrast Anthem And The Scarlet Ibis

988 Words | 4 Pages

Ayn Rand’s method and use of vocabulary explained their findings and the way they experienced their findings stayed inspirational “[Such as] never had we seen rooms so full of light. The sunrays danced upon colors, colors, more colors than we thought possible” (90). Subsequently, these items were so forbidden to Equality and Liberty the way they described their findings was exalting, “We found a room with walls made of shelves, which held rows of manuscripts, from the floor to the ceiling” (95). If Equality did not contemplate himself first, then discovering the wall of the books or the house with Liberty would never have occurred because, they remained in their city performing their jobs and would not have met each other. In addition, they were to gain their own process of philosophies about issues, with more of an open opinion and the many ways they could act upon or us their egos to guide their judgments through

Read More

Self Sacrifice In The Book Night By Elie Wiesel

814 Words | 4 Pages

People are often think of themselves and base their actions on what would harbor the best outcomes for them. It is rare in which people would go out of their way to help other even when it won’t harm them to do so. Therefore, it goes to show, based on that pattern, that the

Read More

The Importance Of Rules In Ayn Rand's Anthem

1042 Words | 5 Pages

Could you imagine living in a world where you were not your own individual? In the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand, everyone is the same and no one can be “better” or more intelligent than each other. In this book, the characters can not even speak the word “I” without getting executed. Think about having rules that restrict individuals from having their own thoughts, ideas, and opinions. In the book Anthem, the readers will discover that these rules and restrictions become a reality.

Read More

Character Analysis Of Equality 7-2521 In Anthem By Ayn Rand

882 Words | 4 Pages

Ayn Rand believes that the moral goal of someone's life is to achieve happiness and the only way to do that is to be selfish. Ayn Rand put her own philosophy in this book in hope that the world will never get to this point. Ayn Rand showed the horrors of objectivism by making the city Equality 7-2521 how it is. She showed how a society could get if everything was equal. She showed how you shouldn't have everyone as equal for society to be a good

Read More

'Individualism In Ayn Rand's Anthem'

518 Words | 3 Pages

Austin Xu Ms. Thixton English Pre-Ap 10/5/17 Individualism Is a Right Equality 7-2521 lives in a collective society where individuals only exist as part of a group and the rights to be an individual in the city is forbidden. In the novel, Anthem, Any Rand employs significant symbolism and artistic imagery in order to passionately display that individualism is a human right. Ayn Rand uses symbolism to display the importance of individualism to humanity.

Read More

Ethical Egoism In Anthem By Ayn Rand

868 Words | 4 Pages

Ethical egoism is the position that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self interest. Ayn Rand a woman seen with a sense of apparition, who believed in ethical egoism and used her fictional stories as a way to alert the population of what the government could do was indeed a women with more knowledge and mind than most as it would seem. Her vocabulary included words such as “moochers’ and “looters” as she referred to people that were dependent on the government, and were appropriate because it made her point a lot more true. Rand may had been a person seen as an “apparition” but her views on a population dependent on government, her ethical egoism, and her life story are the reason to why she describes people in a way that most

Read More

The Importance Of Individuality In Ayn Rand's Anthem

517 Words | 3 Pages

The author of the book Anthem, Ayn Rand, believes that one’s own individual choices and needs are more significant than everyone else’s. Her book Anthem shows this in countless ways. The main character Equality 7-2125, later known as Prometheus, learns to think individually and believes that individuality is more valuable than humanity as a whole. Since Rand wrote the main character to believe this, it makes since that she would believe this too.

Read More

Theme Of Individualism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

538 Words | 3 Pages

Once again, Rand represents another component of her philosophy of egoism through her

Read More

Collectivism And Selfishness In Ayn Rand's Anthem

594 Words | 3 Pages

Selfishness and selflessness can be balanced, and this balance is crucial to a functioning

Read More

The Ego In Ayn Rand's Anthem

743 Words | 3 Pages

He is also talking about having an ego. “No creator was prompted by a desire to serve his brothers, for his brothers rejected the gift he offered and that gift destroyed the slothful routine of their lives. His truth was his only motive. His own truth, and his own work to achieve it in his own way.” Through Howard Roark, Ayn Rand is stating that men are motivated by their egos to achieve and discover and that most of the time these achievements and discoveries are discounted because of the motivational

Read More

Summary Of Anthem By Ayn Rand

1560 Words | 7 Pages

This violates the principles of Objectivism by mankind being taught to be irrational, although rationality is a natural quality of any human. In addition, “‘... he must work for his rational self-interest, with the acheivement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life.’ Thus Objectivism rejects any form of altruism- the claim that morality consists in living for others or society” (Rand 261). So, Rand’s opposition to altruism is shown by the beliefs of Equality’s society by them also violating her philosophy.

Read More

Moral Assessment Of Anthem Essay

792 Words | 4 Pages

Moral Assessment of Anthem In Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem, Equality lives in a communist society that believes everyone must work for and be exactly like one another. For much of the novel, he believes what the Council of Vocations tells him, despite his intelligence and independence. By the end of the book, he realizes that the idea that everyone is the same and must work for each other is flawed. He deserves to live his own life and enjoy himself.

Read More

The Theme Of Objectivism In Anthem By Ayn Rand

806 Words | 4 Pages

Men are said to live for their brothers' happiness and one shall not be selfish. Equality strives away from society’s norms bit by bit and begins to reason that after discovering the lightbulb he was committing an act of selflessness. Later on when he runs away to the Uncharted Forest, he observes his surroundings and begins to reason with the world and why it looks the way it does. He says that he cannot change how the world is to be perceived and that facts are facts. In response to Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, the first tenet is metaphysics.

Read More

Ayn Rand's Self Sacrifice

928 Words | 4 Pages

Self-Sacrifice and happiness are two topic that Ayn Rand argues about in a very objective and intellectual style, but because of the way she misinterpreted selfishness was wrong, the explanation of self-sacrifice was misleading. Rand fails to see the point of how society views happiness and fails to convey it. Rand argues that the society defines selfishness as it’s the “synonym of evil” or “brutes who tramples over piles of corpses to achieve their own ends. ”(7).

Read More

Ethical Egoism In The Movie Rain Man

1044 Words | 5 Pages

Ethical Egoism is a simplistic approach to morality which reduces notions of justice and ethics to mere self-indulgent desires. This philological approach asserts that an action which satiates an individual 's desires or inclinations is right, while an action that goes against an individual 's wishes is categorically immoral. In sum, Ethical Egoism puts the individual 's wants, interests, and aspiration at the forefront of morality. The movie Rain Man is riddled with instances and scenarios of the protagonist Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) employing Ethical Egoism. In fact, the entire premise of the movie and the development of the plot rely on Charlie continually using Ethical Egoism to make decisions.

Read More

More about Ayn Rand's Argument Against Ethical Egoism

Open Document